Opinion

This year I decided that my New Years Resolution was to be a free spirit...and realize I will probably end up just slightly more free spirited than Sheldon of the Big Bang Theory, The last few days I took another baby step in this direction. Let me back up and explain the differences between OCD and ADD in our house. OCD is nagging the husband to drop off the payment to the electric company, and ADD is the guy on the other end of the phone that says, "Oops, I'm sorry the power is out, I forgot to pay the bill.

Somewhere a soldier Sits drinking his Folger's And wondering what words would rhyme With "desert" and "sandstorm" And "al-Muqdadiya" And he hopes his mail gets home on time   The blue-helmeted Seahawk Hears his muse only mock When for his girl he writes a love song to sing He's attempting to show her He's still a romantic feller Though he wears that huge Super Bowl ring   Brain-tired and weary The writer will fear he Has nothing new or inspiring to say But he'll still sit at his desk As his scattered mind frets Over saying "love" in an original way   The bloke and the gringo From Pedro to Ringo Face the same formidable chore Of experiencing their umpteenth February Fourteenth While feeling unable to say more Than "I love you my dear Even more than last year" Without sounding like a terrible bore   One guy decides it's too hard So he will look for a card That expresses his love for her better Than he thinks that he could (Although she wishes he would) By simply just writing a letter   Men can compose eloquent phrases To describe NASCAR races Who won and why we can explain But putting feelings into words Is worse than 200 mph curves At Daytona in a heavy rain So in Love Letter races It's time that we face it - Most will never reach Victory Lane   Some men, at wit's end, Will decide not to pen Their lady some lame-sounding jingle They exclaim with a sigh "Now, I finally figured why That Saint Valentine dude died while still single.

A man who read my column called “Pebbles in our shoes” got to the end of my thoughts about learning that we have had an accused murderer living in our midst for several years . Then he made an observation, and then asked an important question. “I counted 41 times the word ‘I’ in that piece,” wrote a man named Tim Hench.

There is nothing more American than ... a good, old-fashioned social media melee over Super Bowl commercials. The game was forgettable (although not to Seattle or its fans), but the commercials still have millions of people talking – and typing. No, there was no “Thank God for a Farmer,” tribute which Dodge shared with us, using Paul Harvey’s legendary voice and words last year.

Today we received an obituary for Charlotte Knupp.  Now quite frankly, I didn't know Charlotte, but I knew Charlotte's store. As a kid, I always enjoyed creating things. At Christmas, on my dad's side, our family drew names, and I always hoped that a certain aunt of mine would get my name, because I knew if she did, I'd get an awesome present, a craft kit of some kind or a book about how to make something.

Perhaps you saw an ad on TV, or a flier in a newspaper, or some other form of advertising that refers to Sunday’s NFL Championship Game between the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks as “the big game.” Why, you may wonder, don’t they just say “Super Bowl?” Because, they can’t – at least not without having the NFL and its trademark lawyers suing them.

My hometown was not Vinton, but rather in a cold northern desolate place not known for its success on the football field. No, it was not as far north as Minnesota, although the frequency with which the school band there played the Minnesota Fight Song still leaves me unwilling to sing along. (We will address the Wisconsin Fight Song issue in a later column.

Fortunately for those of us who live in small town America, murder is still a very rare event. Still, in a span of just under five years -- From Nov. 8, 1995, to Nov. 3, 2000, three murders took place in areas of eastern Iowa where I was working as a newspaper reporter. I covered all three cases. I attended the funeral of Independence teacher Janine Venzke.

"If you torture numbers, they will tell you anything." I do not know who first said this, but it applies to just about everything, from sports statistics to political polls.  Today, the numbers I wish to torture concern global warming. (I refuse to let anyone get away with calling it "climate change," because the climate changes every day.

Did you watch the now-infamous interview with Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman? Did you hear him say "I am the best and if you try to beat me I'm gonna shut your mouth?" And did you respond by saying, "Wow, what a jerk?" If so, you are a" ludicrous" racist who "isn't ready for lower class Americans from neighborhoods like Compton (California) to succeed.